Outdoor Kid Space Play Yard

Kids Play spaces.

We have designed and installed many outdoor play spaces and gardens for children over the years but the garden depicted below is still my all time favorite.

It is my favorite because of the incredible obstacles that were overcome in getting this space off the ground and permitted.
It is also one of my favorites because it is used so much and is appreciated by the family who lives and plays in it.

A little history : The house is located on a very steep down hill slope. The main living quarters ( kitchen, family room, play room, dining room ) are located on the top floor. Prior to the landscape architectural renovation there was no connection from the top floor down to the outdoor space. If you wanted to the outside back yard, you had to bring people down through the house and exit through the master bedroom. Not ideal egress.

The mission of the landscape renovation was threefold ;
* to create easy access from the upstairs living quarters to the downstairs space
* to expand the outdoor space to include more flat usable space for entertaining
* to create a play yard, despite the steep hillside slope.

We connected the upstairs to the downstairs by creating an outdoor landing , stairway and a deck that cantilevers over the steepest part of the property.
On the deck we installed a small food prep counter, sink, gas line hook up for a mobile clean burning bbq, hot tub, and storage area.

Through a series of retaining walls, one which was already existing on site and was not demolished in the installation of the master plan, We built in a terraced play structure including a playhouse, swing set, slide, rock climbing wall, and sand box .

A shrub, flower, and herb garden was installed along with a few vegetable pocket gardens.

From Kids Play Space

From Kids Play Space

Photo by Lee Anne White

From Kids Play Space

From Kids Play Space

From Kids Play Space